The modern day business environment has numerous dynamics that present organizations with both opportunities and challenges. To this end, Babbie (2013) provides that managers are always striving to understand the business environment to track any changes and trends to develop and implement the appropriate responses where necessary. In this regard, social research has become an essential business practice as it helps organizations to keep track of the market environment. Shipman (2014) advises that it is essential for business managers to utilize the appropriate social research methods to ensure that they get an accurate view of changes and trends in the market. This paper focuses on social research methods with an aim of explain some of the important components that are needed for social experiments. The social research methods components focused in the paper are identified and discussed below.
One of social research methods components is the hypothesis. Rubin & Babbie (2016) pprovides that a hypothesis is a speculation by researchers on the outcome of a research experiment. In most cases, a hypothesis is created through inductive reasoning where a theory is developed from observations (Eriksson and Kovalainen, 2015). Researchers then utilize deductive methods to arrive at a testable hypothesis. For example, if it is observed that the staff in the Hawaii’s mayor office has reduced productivity significantly, the human resources department may try to explain the situation through looking at different scenarios that may cause the situation. It may be argued that the reduced productivity is as a result of reduced motivation, underpayment or harsh treatment at the work place. After considering the various reasons, the HR department may create the hypothesis that the reduced productivity is as a result of low motivation and then undertake research to determine if the assumption is right.
Another component examined here includes non-probability sampling. Babbie (2016) enlightens that non-probability sampling involves selecting a study sample selectively as opposed to random sampling. Non-probability sampling can either involve convenience sampling or purposive sampling (Babbie, 2016). Convenience sampling involves the situation where the research uses the research respondents who are accessible to him or her (Bryman, 2015). For instance, a researcher investigating why public servants in Hawaii are exhibiting low levels of productivity may decide to interviews civil servants in public offices near to the location of the person undertaking the research. In regard to purposive sampling, Babbie, (2013) enlightens that it involves selecting a specific sample within a population deliberately especially in situations where random sampling may not be effective. For instance, a researcher investigating why people use the social media in Hawaii may purposely target young people as they are most likely to use the social media as compared to seniors.
Sampling frame is another essential research methods component. When undertaking sampling, it is essential to obtain a significant level of understanding about the target population so as to determine the most appropriate way to select the sample and the appropriate sample size. Sampling frame helps a research to develop the necessary insight and understanding of the target population through identifying more information about the units within a target population (Bryman, 2015). For example, if the target population in a research study comprises of all government organizations in Hawaii, the sample frame may involve identifying the names of the government organizations in Hawaii, their leaders, how they work and who they serve alongside any other information that may be used to classify the organizations
The last components focused in the paper include independent and dependent variables. Independent variable refers to the research variable that is not affected by other research variables that under investigation by the researcher while a dependent variable comprises of variables that are expected to change after manipulation of either of the variables (Shipman, 2014). For instance, if a person is interested in understanding whether salary among the civil servants in Hawaii increases their job motivation, the amount of money offered in form of salary serves as the independent variable while the dependent variable is the level of motivation among the Hawaii civil servants.
In summary, this paper has focused on social research methods. Specifically, it has explained some of the essential components of social research methods needed in experiments. Some of the components that have been discussed include hypothesis, non-probability sampling, sampling frame, independent variable and dependent variable.
References
Babbie, E. R. (2013). The basics of social research. Cengage Learning.
Babbie, E. R. (2016). The Practice of Social Research. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning US.
Bryman, A. (2015). Social research methods. Oxford university press.
Eriksson, P. and Kovalainen, A., 2015. Qualitative Methods in Business Research: A Practical Guide to Social Research. Sage.
Rubin, A., & Babbie, E. R. (2016). Empowerment Series: Research Methods for Social Work. Cengage Learning.
Shipman, M. D. (2014). The limitations of social research. Routledge.
